Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1984 and began to work on it shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996.[1][2] To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life.[3] The show was originally to be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!, but the name SpongeBoy was already in use for a mop product.[4] Upon finding it out, Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".[5]

Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD was released in Region 1 on October 28, 2003, Region 2 on November 7, 2005, and Region 4 on November 30, 2006. The pilot episode, "Help Wanted", was not included on the DVD due to copyright issues with the song "Living in the Sunlight" by Tiny Tim, which appears in the episode, but was later released as a bonus feature on various series DVDs, including that of the third season. The season received positive reviews from media critics upon release.

Creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived SpongeBob SquarePants in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute.[6] During this period, Hillenburg became fascinated with animation, and wrote a comic book entitled The Intertidal Zone starring various anthropomorphic forms of sea life, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob SquarePants characters,[7] including "Bob the Sponge", who was the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual sea sponge, as opposed to SpongeBob who resembles a kitchen sponge.[1] In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator,[1][7] and began to envision the possible concept of a project involving anthropomorphic sea life, drawing several rough sketches.[1] In 1992, Hillenburg began to attend the California Institute of the Arts to study animation, having been accepted into the institute by Jules Engel, who was impressed with Hillenburg's previous work.[7][8]

Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996.[12] Shortly following this, Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob SquarePants, teaming up with several Nickelodeon veterans and Rocko crew members,[1] including creative director Derek Drymon, writers and directors Sherm Cohen and Dan Povenmire,[13] writer Tim Hill, actor and writer Martin Olson, animation director Alan Smart, and story editor Merriwether Williams.[2] To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life.[3] Originally the character was to be named SpongeBoy and the show would be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!.[14][15] However, the Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name SpongeBoy was already in use for a mop product.[4][14] This was discovered after voice acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997.[14] Upon finding this out, Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".[5]

While Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, and Tim Hill were writing the pilot "Help Wanted", Hillenburg was also conducting auditions to find voices for the show characters.[21] He had created the character of SpongeBob with Tom Kenny,[3][21] in which he utilised Kenny's and other people's personalities to help create SpongeBob's personality.[14] The voice of SpongeBob was originally used by Kenny for a very minor female alligator character named Al in Rocko's Modern Life. Kenny forgot the voice initially as he created it only for that single use. Hillenburg, however, remembered it when he was coming up with SpongeBob and used a video clip of the episode to remind Kenny of the voice.[14] Kenny says that SpongeBob's high pitched laugh was specifically aimed at being unique, stating that they wanted an annoying laugh in the tradition of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker.[22] Hillenburg originally had Mr. Lawrence for the role of voicing Squidward.[21] Drymon said "We knew Doug from Rocko, where he was a storyboard director and where he also did the voice of Filburt. We were showing Doug the storyboard, and he started reading back to us in his Tony the Tiger/Gregory Peck voice. It was really funny, and we wound up having SpongeBob use a deep voice when he entered the Krusty Krab for the first time."[21] Hillenburg loved the voice and decided to give Lawrence the part of the series villain, Plankton.[21]

Prior to start of production on the show, Hillenburg decided early that he wanted SpongeBob SquarePants to be a storyboard-driven show, rather than script-driven.[38] Storyboard-driven is an approach that required artists who could take a skeletal story outline and flesh it out with sight gags, dialogue and a structure that "would strike a balance between narrative and whimsy."[38] Hillenburg originally wanted "a team of young and hungry people" to work on the show.[21] The group, who worked with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life before, consisted of Alan Smart, Nick Jennings, and Derek Drymon.[21]Tim Hill was asked about if he want to work as story editor, but was unavailable at the time.[21] The crew got Peter Burns to work as story editor who developed the idea for the episode "Ripped Pants" about SpongeBob ripping his pants.[21]

During the first season, the writing staff used most of the story ideas that were in Hillenburg's series bible and they had problems on how to generate new ideas.[21] At one point, the writing staff went to the beach for inspiration for a possible episode.[21] However, the day "was overcast and cold, so we [the writers] had to stay in the car." Drymon said "We didn't come up with too many ideas that day."[21] Story editor Peter Burns left, and the crew had Merriwether Williams to overtake.[21] Hillenburg said to Williams that "it was her responsibility to get us [the writers] to come up with new ideas."[21] Drymon said "[It] is a tall order." Williams gave Drymon a book called Zen in the Art of Writing, written by Ray Bradbury, that catalogs a collection of essays about writing processes.[21] One of the ways in the book to inspire plots was "to write nouns that interested him [Bradbury] on a note card and hang them in his office. He felt just having the word in his eyesight would get his mind working." Williams took this scheme and made it into "a writing exercise."[21] In writing meetings, the staff would all enumerate 10 nouns on strips of paper and place them in a hat.[21] The hat would be passed throughout and a writer would have a limited time to spawn an idea based on the noun he wrote.[21] Drymon said "It would almost always start a discussion, and we wound up getting a lot of episodes out of it."[21] Furthermore, Drymon said that Williams "really came up with a great addition to the process."[21]

One time, Hillenburg came to Williams and said, "Why don't you go read a bunch of books about writing."[39] Hillenburg wanted to keep the enthusiasm in the writing room, because, according to Williams, "sometimes it can be a slog."[39] She went off, read more books about writing, and came up with two more exercises for writing meetings.[39]

When the crew began production on the pilot, they were tasked to design the stock locations where "[...] the show would return to again and again, and in which most of the action would take place, such as the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob's pineapple house."[15] Hillenburg had a "clear vision" of what he wanted the show to look like. The idea was "to keep everything nautical" so the crew used lots of rope, wooden planks, ships' wheels, netting, anchors, and boilerplate and rivets.[15]

The season marked the introduction of the "sky flowers" as the main background.[15] It first appeared in the pilot and has since become a common feature throughout the series.[15] When series background designer Kenny Pittenger was asked "What are those things?," he answered "They function as clouds in a way, but since the show takes place underwater, they aren't really clouds."[15] Since the show was influenced by tiki, the background painters have to use a lot of pattern.[15] Pittenger said "So really, the sky flowers are mostly a whimsical design element that Steve [Hillenburg] came up with to evoke the look of a flower-print Hawaiian shirt—or something like that. I don't know what they are either."[15]

The season was critically acclaimed. Three of its episodes won Best Sound Editing in Television Animation at the 2000 Golden Reel Awards.[43] It consisted of the episodes "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" and "Pickles" for Music, while the "Karate Choppers" won for the Sound.[43] In 2001, "Rock Bottom" and "Arrgh!" also won the Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation — Sound, while "Fools in April" and "Neptune's Spatula" were nominated for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation — Music.[44]

In his review for the Variety, Noel Holston said "[The show] is smarter and freakier than most of the prime-time animated series that have popped up in the past year."[45] Furthermore, most of the first season DVD reviews were positive towards the series as being one of the best American comedy shows. In a DVD review by Bill Treadway for DVD Verdict, he called the show "the best animated American comedy since The Simpsons, it is a claim I stand behind." Treadway said the show is "accessible to all" that "adults will enjoy the witty satire and sly in-jokes subtly inserted into every episode."[46][46] He also mentioned that "children will love the bright colors, spunky pace, and lively characters" and that "parents will not have to worry about violence or crude humor."[46] Jason Bovberg of DVD Talk called SpongeBob SquarePants "the coolest Saturday morning cartoon since the heyday of Warner Bros."[47] In a separate review for the season's DVD release, Bovberg "highly recommended" the set and wrote "I love the show so much, I can't see any way around giving this one a recommendation."[48] Bovberg was particular on the exclusion of the pilot episode "Help Wanted", saying "But why is 'Help Wanted' missing? I suppose I'll have to buy a "theme" disc down the road to secure that one. Sigh."[48] Furthermore, he described it as "the only disappointment of the set."[48] Ron J. Epstein, also from DVD Talk, said that the character of SpongeBob is "one of the strangest cartoon characters I have ever had the pleasure to watch." He said that "Unlike most cartoons today, SpongeBob SquarePants caters to both a child and an adult audience."[49]

In his review for The Washington Post, Michael Cavna rewatched the pilot episode "Help Wanted" in 2009 and said "so much of the style and polish are already in place."[50] He ranked the episode at No. 3 at his The Top Five SpongeBob Episodes: We Pick 'Em list.[51] Nancy Basile of the About.com said "[The] humor and optimistic essence of SpongeBob is evident even in this first episode."[52]

SpongeBob SquarePants attempts to get a job at the local restaurant called the Krusty Krab, but is tasked to find a mechanical spatula because the owner, Mr. Krabs, considers him unqualified for the position. Eventually, crowds of ravenous anchovies stop by the Krusty Krab and demand for meals. SpongeBob returns from his errand, having fulfilled the request of Mr. Krabs and utilizes the spatula to fulfill the anchovies' hunger. He is then welcomed by Mr. Krabs as his employee.

Trying to keep his front yard clean, Squidward picks up a shell sitting and throws it over to SpongeBob's yard. SpongeBob finds this the perfect time to use his electric, high powered "reef blower" to remove the shell off his yard. Squidward, however, is unaware what havoc likely to happen for his quiet afternoon.

SpongeBob meets and befriends a squirrel named Sandy Cheeks. Sandy invites him over to her Treedome for a tea, but when SpongeBob arrives, he is surprised to find that there is no water, but he tries to act like he is used to Sandy's air, despite needing water to breathe. Patrick, SpongeBob's best friend, later comes into the Treedome not knowing that there was no water in there. Sandy finds SpongeBob and Patrick shriveled up, so she gives them "water helmets" to solve the problem.

SpongeBob loudly begins to build and opens a stand for blowing bubbles, much to Squidward's dismay. Patrick comes to the stand, and asks to try it out. SpongeBob offers to teach him and shows how he blow bubbles with a particular technique. Squidward is disgusted, but he begins to blow a bubble out of curiosity. Squidward then attempts to impress them, but fails. Eventually, he blows an enormous bubble by screaming in anger. SpongeBob and Patrick congratulate Squidward, who thanks them and walks back into his house. However, the gigantic bubble floats and traps Squidward's house inside it, unearthing it, and sending it up in the air.

While at Goo Lagoon, SpongeBob accidentally rips his pants while trying to impress Sandy, causing everyone to laugh hysterically. Feeling embarrassed, SpongeBob sadly leaves, but a fish compliments him for the good laugh, so he use this to his advantage. SpongeBob tries to revive his joke multiple times, but it soon becomes old and drives all the beachgoers away, including Sandy. Later, he meets the three "biggest losers on the beach", and they ask SpongeBob what happened to him. SpongeBob tells his story and apologizes through a song, and wins back Sandy.

SpongeBob and Patrick take Squidward, who is recovering from an accident, to "jellyfishing" (a sport involving the capture of jellyfish). When they arrive in the Jellyfish Fields, a jellyfish stings Squidward, so he goes after it for revenge. He manages to catch the jellyfish, and bangs his net triumphantly against a queen jellyfish. The queen jellyfish chases after him, attacking him with an extremely massive sting. The next day, the now life-support-bound Squidward is discovered and stung by the queen jellyfish again.

3b

3b

"Plankton!"

Edgar Larrazabal

Ennio Torresan, Erik Wiese & Mr. Lawrence

July 31, 1999 (1999-07-31)

N/A

It is mass chaos at the Krusty Krab when Plankton, Mr. Krabs' business rival, tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula for his own restaurant, the Chum Bucket. At night, Plankton attempts to make friends with SpongeBob by asking him for a Krabby Patty, but he loudly and boldly refuses and runs back home. Later that night, Plankton enters SpongeBob's head through a pore and makes his way to SpongeBob's brain. He attaches a mind control device to the brain and bends SpongeBob to his will, forcing him to walk to the Krusty Krab, get a Krabby Patty, and bring it to the Chum Bucket.

Squidward destroys SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship after being annoyed by them sending each other messages by blowing bubbles and laughing. Eventually, all goes terribly awry when SpongeBob and Patrick fight over who is Squidward's best friend. Squidward decides to invite Patrick and SpongeBob to a dinner party in order to repair their friendship.

SpongeBob has to go to boating school but continues to fail his driving test. He shares this info with Patrick, who decides to secretly give SpongeBob instructions during the test via walkie-talkie. Upon realizing that he has been cheating, SpongeBob goes into hysterics and driving wildly all over the course, while his driving teacher, Mrs. Puff, in a panic, tries desperately to stop him. SpongeBob refuses to listen causing him to crash the boat and fail the test again.

The Krusty Krab receives a call from a customer demanding to deliver him a pizza, so Mr. Krabs decides to have Squidward and SpongeBob deliver it. While on the way delivering the pizza, SpongeBob and Squidward get stranded in a desert. When they finally reach the customer's house, the customer gets angry that he did not get the soda he also ordered. SpongeBob starts crying the customer does not take the pizza. Angered that the customer made SpongeBob cry, Squidward knocks on the door and smacks the pizza in the customer's face.

5b

5b

"Home Sweet Pineapple"

Tom Yasumi

Ennio Torresan Jr., Erik Wiese & Mr. Lawrence

August 14, 1999 (1999-08-14)

N/A

A horde of hungry nematodes come to town and consumes SpongeBob's pineapple house. After this happens, SpongeBob plans to move back with his parents, though with a lot of reluctance because he will miss his old house and friends dearly, though Squidward is delighted by the thought of it. On the day he leaves town, SpongeBob finds a small pebble left the kids in the horse song It's A Small World from his house, and buries it where his house used to be. SpongeBob cries,and his tears are absorbed by the pebble (which is actually a seed), causing his pineapple house to grow back.

SpongeBob and Patrick want to meet their favorite retired superheroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. They try to bring them out of retirement, much to the superheroes' annoyance who only want their TV fixed. SpongeBob and Patrick go through various kinds of hilarious antics to reunite them and eventually succeed.

Bubble Bass, a picky overweight bass and old rival of SpongeBob's, comes to the Krusty Krab for a Krabby Patty. Bubble Bass says SpongeBob forgot the pickles, and SpongeBob, shocked by this, loses his confidence. Mr. Krabs is worried about losing money, so he approaches SpongeBob to explain to him that if he remembers how to make a Krabby Patty, he will be back in order. It takes days, but SpongeBob eventually learns how to make a Krabby Patty properly again.

Mrs. Puff makes SpongeBob a hall monitor for the day. SpongeBob patrols the town, but it results into chaos. SpongeBob invites Patrick to help him watch over a maniac causing trouble around town. Eventually, SpongeBob sees a wanted poster for himself and realizes that he is the maniac. The police arrive to arrest him, and Mrs. Puff appears to explain the situation to them, saying that he is her responsibility. The police interpret this as taking responsibility for the crimes, and she is arrested.

SpongeBob brings home a wild jellyfish and throws a big dance party. However, the wild jellyfish continues through the night and more jellyfish come to the party. The next morning, SpongeBob wakes up to find his living room filled with hundreds of dancing jellyfish, and attempts to make them leave. After Gary drives them away by clicking his eyes together, SpongeBob leads them out to Jellyfish Fields.

SpongeBob and Patrick sneak onto Sandy's rocket ship one night. When they do, they accidentally start the engine but crash-land back to Bikini Bottom. Thinking they are on the moon, they capture everyone thinking they are aliens. Eventually, SpongeBob believes that Patrick is an alien. SpongeBob starts the rocket to return home, and when it reaches the moon, the rocket crashes on top of it. SpongeBob looks out the window and realizes his mistake.

Mr. Krabs gives his daughter Pearl a pair of squeaky boots as a cheap birthday present, but when she refuses to take them, he gives them to SpongeBob. SpongeBob enjoys them and the squeaky sounds they make, but the sound begins to bother Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs cannot stand the sounds anymore, so he steals the boots and buries them underneath the Krusty Krab. The next day, SpongeBob comes crying because he could not find the boots. Mr. Krabs feels guilty, starts going crazy, and confesses that he stole the boots.

9a

9a

"Nature Pants"

Sean Dempsey

Paul Tibbitt, Mark O'Hare & Peter Burns

September 11, 1999

N/A

SpongeBob decides he wants to live with jellyfish, so he goes to live in Jellyfish Fields. Patrick and Sandy have a set-up picnic to try to convince SpongeBob into moving back. But he resists. SpongeBob soon finds out that living among the jellyfish is not as quite as he had dreamed. He realizes the great life he gave up, so returns home and is surprised by his friends, who forgive and hug him.

9b

9b

"Opposite Day"

Tom Yasumi

Chuck Klein, Jay Lender & Mr. Lawrence

September 11, 1999

N/A

Squidward plans to move out of Bikini Bottom after being annoyed by SpongeBob and Patrick. However, he is warned by the real estate broker that if his home is surrounded by bad neighbors, the house may not be sold. Squidward tells SpongeBob that it is "Opposite Day", and that everyone must act opposite to how they usually act. SpongeBob later tells Patrick about Opposite Day. When Squidward is busy and the real esate broker arrives, SpongeBob and Patrick both pretend to be Squidward, giving her a tour of the house, while describing it negatively and doing the opposite of what she asks. Then, the real Squidward arrives and begs Patty to sell his house, but she refuses, leaving Squidward stuck where he is.

10a

10a

"Culture Shock"

Edgar Larrazabal

Paul Tibbitt, Mark O'Hare & Mr. Lawrence

September 18, 1999

N/A

The Krusty Krab has hit a depression of customers, and Mr. Krabs tells Squidward and SpongeBob that the Krusty Krab needs ideas to get more customers. Squidward suggests a talent show at the Krusty Krab, and Mr. Krabs agrees. When the night of the show arrives, it is a major success, attracting a full house of customers. The final act features Squidward, but the audience quickly hates it. They begin throwing tomatoes at him, making Squidward leave the stage. SpongeBob goes onstage and begins mopping up the mess, which the audience enjoys and starts cheering.

10b

10b

"F.U.N."

Fred Miller

Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer & Peter Burns

September 18, 1999 (1999-09-18)

N/A

SpongeBob thinks Plankton is evil because he is lonely, so he tries to befriend him. Eventually, while at the movie theater, SpongeBob realizes that Plankton used him to get a Krabby Patty, and Plankton attempts to explain that he realizes now that he only ever wanted friendship. However, he lies and runs directly through the screen with the patty into a solid wall. Plankton is squashed, and Mr. Krabs flicks him off the wall onto Bubble Bass' hand, who mistakes Plankton for a jellybean and chases him around his hand.

11a

11a

"MuscleBob BuffPants"

Edgar Larrazabal

Ennio Torresan, Jr., Erik Wiese & Mr. Lawrence

September 25, 1999 (1999-09-25)

N/A

SpongeBob orders fake arms with inflatable muscles to impress everyone. When Sandy sees him, she decides to enroll the both of them in a competition, where each contestant must throw an anchor the farthest they can. SpongeBob realizes that this would expose that his "muscles" are fake. At the competition, every contestant heaves their anchors the farthest, but SpongeBob, with his fake muscles, cannot even lift his anchor. He inflates his arms to strengthen himself, but instead they explode, revealing him as a fraud.

11b

11b

"Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost"

Fred Miller

Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer & Peter Burns

September 25, 1999 (1999-09-25)

N/A

SpongeBob and Patrick think Squidward is dead after ruining his self-replica. Squidward decides to take advantage of their beliefs by telling them that he will spare them if they accept all of his commands. SpongeBob and Patrick decide that since Squidward is a vengeful spirit, they need to have Squidward to be put to rest. Squidward eventually admits his charade, but SpongeBob and Patrick believe that Squidward is simply in denial about his death. SpongeBob blows a giant bubble that engulfs Squidward and sends him floating up to the sky.

12a

12a

"The Chaperone"

Sean Dempsey

Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer & Peter Burns

October 2, 1999

N/A

SpongeBob is asked to take Pearl to her school prom after she was dumped by her boyfriend. When they arrive, SpongeBob clumsily ruins Pearl's experience, making him break down. Pearl, feeling sorry for him, attempts to console him and restore his confidence. Pearl and SpongeBob perform a dance, which everyone else soon begins doing. However, this results in many injuries and mass destruction. An angry mob forms and throws Pearl and SpongeBob out of the building. SpongeBob apologizes, and Pearl says even though it was a disaster, it was really fun.

12b

12b

"Employee of the Month"

Sean Dempsey

Paul Tibbitt & Mr. Lawrence

October 2, 1999

N/A

SpongeBob is always the best employee ever but Squidward wants the Employee of the Month Award for a change. The two argue about the award and set several traps for each other as they both desperately try to reach the Krusty Krab first. They get there at the same time, just as Mr. Krabs opens the doors. They begin overworking in an attempt to impress him, doing more harm than good, scaring Mr. Krabs out of his wits in the process. They then begin trying to make as many Krabby Patties as possible, eventually causing the Krusty Krab to explode.

13a

13a

"Scaredy Pants"

Sean Dempsey

Paul Tibbitt & Peter Burns

October 28, 1999

N/A

SpongeBob is tired of always getting scared on Halloween, and people calling him "Scaredy Pants" so he decides to dress like the Flying Dutchman to get revenge. For his costume, SpongeBob realizes that a real ghost has a round head, and that he has a square one. Patrick shaves SpongeBob's head, making it round. The real Flying Dutchman appears and explains to the people how offended he is by people dressing up as him for Halloween, and that SpongeBob's costume is the worst of all. He takes off SpongeBob's costume, which revealed that his brain is exposed as a result of Patrick's shaving. Subsequently, everyone runs away, including the Dutchman, leaving SpongeBob satisfied to finally have succeeded in scaring people.

13b

13b

"I Was a Teenage Gary"

Edgar Larrazabal

Steven Fonti, Chris Mitchell & Mr. Lawrence

October 28, 1999

N/A

SpongeBob trusts Squidward to take good care of Gary while he goes to a jelly-fishing convention. However, Squidward neglects him and Gary falls sick. SpongeBob calls the veterinarian, who gives him a syringe filled with snail plasma. Squidward accidentally injects the serum into SpongeBob's nose, causing SpongeBob to turn into a snail. The transformed SpongeBob approaches Squidward, who runs in fear, accidentally injects himself with the serum, and thus turns into a snail himself.

14a

14a

"SB-129"

Tom Yasumi

Aaron Springer, Erik Wiese & Mr. Lawrence

December 31, 1999

N/A

After being asked by SpongeBob and Patrick for jellyfishing, Squidward refuses and wants to be away from them so hides inside of the Krusty Krab's freezer, getting trapped in there. 2,000 years later, he is in "the future" and experiences time traveling only to go back to his time. In the process, the time machine malfunctions, leaving Squidward in "a surreal realm of nothingness". Suddenly realizing his loneliness, he attempts to escape and lands in the time machine room. He begs it to return to the present, which it does. Only, he finds that he's now the one who invented "jellyfishing".

SpongeBob is constantly practicing karate with Sandy, but Mr. Krabs forbids him from doing karate as he attacks the customers at the Krusty Krab and threatens to fire him. They attempt to forget karate, and go to the park. However, while slicing sandwiches, they begin doing karate again, which is seen by Mr. Krabs. However, he finds that karate chops can replace knives, and has SpongeBob and Sandy slice Krabby Patties this way, earning him more money.

When SpongeBob goes to sleep, he gains the ability of astral projection (because of Mrs. Puff) and ventures into his friends' dreams. After a journey to his friends' dreams, SpongeBob then goes back to his own dream. When he wakes up, everyone is in his room, upset that he messed up their dreams.

SpongeBob tries to fall asleep but fails. He decides that eating a sandwich would help, but he accidentally leaves his refrigerator door open. The open refrigerator gives him a bad case of a sickness like the common cold called the suds, causing him to sneeze bubbles out of his pores. Unfortunately Patrick foolishly tells SpongeBob going to the doctor is a terrifying experience, and SpongeBob asks Patrick to cure him but he only makes it worse. Sandy then takes SpongeBob to a real doctor, who prescribes the "sponge treatment". The treatment cures SpongeBob completely and he is given a lollipop. Patrick then fakes having the suds and gets the painful "starfish treatment".

16a

16a

"Valentine's Day"

Fred Miller

Chuck Klein, Jay Lender & Merriwether Williams

February 14, 2000

N/A

SpongeBob and Sandy set up a Valentine's Day treat for Patrick, a hot-air balloon made completely of chocolate at a Valentine's Day-themed park. Unfortunately, their plan is going through a delay, as the balloon is attacked by scallops, and SpongeBob gives Patrick a handshake in order to keep the balloon a surprise. Patrick nearly goes insane with rage, but SpongeBob's treat for Patrick arrives, and Patrick becomes friends with SpongeBob and Sandy again.

16b

16b

"The Paper"

Fred Miller

Chuck Klein, Jay Lender & Mr. Lawrence

February 14, 2000

N/A

SpongeBob plays around with a gum wrapper Squidward thrown on his yard. SpongeBob uses his imagination to have fun and do amazing things with the paper, and Squidward becomes jealous and attempts to take it back. However, SpongeBob refuses to give it back, as he promised not to. Squidward desperately begs SpongeBob for the paper, and is not successful until he agrees to trade everything he owns. However, Squidward does not have fun with the paper, and realizes that it is completely worthless.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs play a board game based on the legend of the Flying Dutchman, which involves an in-game treasure hunt. Mr. Krabs likes the game so much that he wants to go on a real treasure hunt. In their hunt, SpongeBob and Patrick find the treasure, but Mr. Krabs says that all of the treasure belongs to him. They begin fighting over the chest, and their arguing wakes up the Flying Dutchman, who appears and congratulates SpongeBob and Patrick for digging it for him. He takes the treasure, but gives them two gold coins. Mr. Krabs asks for a reward, but only receives a tiny plastic treasure chest.

When a delightful day at the glove-themed amusement park called the Glove World is over, SpongeBob and Patrick take the wrong bus when they are trying to go home, and end up in the abyssal zone of Rock Bottom. Patrick gets on a bus to go home but accidentally leaves SpongeBob behind. SpongeBob makes several unsuccessful attempts to get on a bus. Meanwhile, he meets a friendly-looking anglerfish, who has SpongeBob's balloon from Glove World. The creature blows up the balloon, ties it to SpongeBob's wrist, and allows him to float up the cliff and back to Bikini Bottom.

18a

18a

"Texas"

Sean Dempsey

Sherm Cohen, Vincent Waller & David Fain

March 22, 2000

N/A

Sandy is homesick and wishes she was back in Texas. SpongeBob attempts to cheer her up by organizing a Texas-themed surprise party at the Krusty Krab. They go to Sandy's house to ask her to come to the Krusty Krab with them, but she tells them that she is leaving Bikini Bottom to go back to Texas. SpongeBob and Patrick is shocked by this, and after making several insults about Texas and getting Sandy angry they lure her to the Krusty Krab. Sandy then realizes how much her underwater friends care about her and that Bikini Bottom has become her true home, and decides to stay.

18b

18b

"Walking Small"

Sean Dempsey

Aaron Springer, Erik Wiese & Mr. Lawrence

March 22, 2000

N/A

At Goo Lagoon, Plankton arrives to turn the beach into the future site of a Chum Bucket branch, and demands everyone to leave the beach. However, no one listens to him, due to how small he is. He concludes that he needs someone big to help clear the beach for him, and encounters SpongeBob. Plankton decides to trick SpongeBob into being "assertive" in order to get the things that he wants. After a series of cruel and nasty actions by SpongeBob, everyone leaves the beach. Plankton then reveals his true intentions to SpongeBob, making him very upset. SpongeBob defeats Plankton by becoming "aggressively nice" performing kind actions that attract the people back to the beach. Plankton leaves the beach, disgusted by the overwhelming amounts of kindness.

19a

19a

"Fools in April"

Fred Miller

Aaron Springer, Erik Wiese & Merriwether Williams

April 1, 2000

N/A

At the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob pulls numerous playful and harmless pranks on people. Squidward gets so annoyed that he pulls his own cruel and nasty prank on SpongeBob in retaliation, though it ends poorly as SpongeBob runs for home, physically hurt and emotional. Squidward goes to see SpongeBob to apologize, but finds himself impossibly unable to say "I'm sorry" to him. He is able to say it by putting a bubble over his head, so that SpongeBob cannot actually hear his apology. Squidward walks away, saying that his conscience is clear, but is confronted by memories of what he did. He goes back and genuinely apologizes to SpongeBob. Suddenly, SpongeBob fully opens his front door, revealing that everyone else is inside behind him, and witnessed Squidward's apology. Squidward states that he was fooling them as well before running away to his house while laughing maniacally.

19b

19b

"Neptune's Spatula"

Fred Miller

Chuck Klein, Jay Lender & David Fain

April 1, 2000

N/A

While at the Fry Cook Museum, SpongeBob pulls a legendary spatula out of a bucket of grease, summoning King Neptune. King Neptune challenges SpongeBob to prove his ability, as he is not pleased to find that SpongeBob is the one destined to be his eternal fry cook. At the competition, King Neptune makes 1,000 burgers, in the time it takes SpongeBob to make just one, winning the challenge. However, when Neptune shares his patties with the audience, they find that they taste terrible. Neptune is angered by this and tastes SpongeBob's patty, and finds it to be delicious. SpongeBob is declared the winner, but when he finds out that his friends cannot come with him to Atlantis, he refuses to go, and instead arranges for Neptune to be a trainee under him at the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs comes into the Krusty Krab warning everybody of the fishing hooks arriving into the waters surrounding Bikini Bottom. Patrick encourages SpongeBob to play on them with him, thinking they are not dangerous. Mr. Krabs catches the two playing on the hooks and warns them never to do it again. The next day, SpongeBob tries to avoid the hooks, but gives into temptation and gets caught on one, and runs to the Krusty Krab for help. The hook ends up removing SpongeBob's clothes in front of Pearl and her friends, and he runs naked to his house, embarrassed by the incident. As it turns out, Squidward was the one fishing, to teach SpongeBob a lesson.

SpongeBob wins a conch shell that can summon Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in emergencies. However, he abuses this privilege, constantly calling the superheroes to help with everyday tasks. Eventually, the two heroes are exhausted, and SpongeBob apologizes, explaining that he just wanted to spend time with them. As a result, they let SpongeBob join them on their daily patrol, but he ends up doing several accidental things, annoying them. At a restaurant, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy decide to "ditch" SpongeBob. Outside, however, they are attacked and trapped by their arch nemesis, the Dirty Bubble. SpongeBob comes outside to tell them, and sees their predicament. He asks the Dirty Bubble for his autograph, saying that he is his favorite supervillain, and "accidentally" pops the Dirty Bubble with a pencil tip, saving the day.

The DVD boxset for season one was released by Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon in the United States and Canada in October 2003, three years after it had completed broadcast on television. The DVD release features bonus materials including audio commentaries, featurettes, and music videos.[46][48][65] The pilot episode "Help Wanted" was excluded in the DVD release due to copyright issues.[65] According to Derek Drymon, the episode was not included because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for the DVD rights.[21] "Help Wanted" was later released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season DVD as a bonus feature on September 27, 2005.[66][67] It was also released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.[68][69] The DVD included a featurette called "Help Wanted" the Seven Seas Edition that featured "Help Wanted" in numerous languages.[70][71] The episode was also a bonus feature in the series DVD called SpongeBob SquarePants: 10 Happiest Moments that was released on September 14, 2010.[72][73] Upon release, the DVD set was quickly sold out at Best Buy and was selling "briskly" at online retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.[74]